Whether you are an enthusiastic amateur DIY-er, a student looking to pursue a career in the trades, or simply a health and safety conscious homeowner, if you are looking to learn the basics of electricity, you have clicked on the right article.
Here is an informative guide to the electricity supply to your home, how to mend a plug, and electrical health and safety.
Visual Checks for Electrical Safety
Taking just half an hour every couple of weeks or every month at the least to conduct simple and basic safety checks throughout your home will not only reduce the chance of costly problems but could even save your life and the rest of your family’s lives.
During these visual checks, keep the following in mind:
- Never use a damaged plug or plug socket
- Keep the top of the microwave clear
- Ensure your fuse box is RCD protected
- Never use electrical items in the bathroom
- Always switch the sockets off on the wall
Approach DIY with Caution
Even if you have a background in dealing with electrical equipment, any and all DIY projects, however simple and basic, need to be approached with extreme care and caution each and every time.
In the United Kingdom, a high number of deaths are caused by people who think they can tackle an electrical issue within their home yet are not sufficiently able to deal with it.
Should you even be thinking about conducting any kind of maintenance work on any aspect of the electrical wiring system in your home, make sure you only invest in the correct tools for the job from a reputable and renowned residential and commercial electrical supplier such as powerpoint electrical.
How to Mend a Plug
Finally, learning how to mend or wire a plug is one of those skills that, even though there is always someone around who can do this job for you, it is still useful to know what you are doing.
Here is how to mend a UK plug:
- Strip the end of the wire as it enters the plug with wire strippers
- Remove the screw in the middle of the plug next to the three pins
- Take the back off the plug and separate the three different wires inside
- Take off between half and one centimetre on each of the three wires
- Place the three wires back in position: blue (neutral) on the left, green (earth) in the middle and red (live) on the right
- Fit each wire securely into the corresponding metal clip
- Screw the back of the plug back into place
Prevent Electrical Fires
Electrical fires are horrifically quick to take hold, and you should be doing everything you can to prevent them.
Have your insulation professionally inspected at least every nine years, never leave the Christmas tree lights switched on overnight and make sure you are not covering the fuse box with coats and other paraphernalia.
In addition, always switch off electrical appliances at the socket and make sure your smoke alarms are working.
